you and your triple-digit IQ
by dhawthorne
Summary: A series of 100-word drabbles featuring Mike Logan and Liz Olivet-a background to my work Private Lives. Spans 1990-2008
1. Beginnings Middles Ends Insides Outsides

001\. Beginnings  
It's her first day at the precinct and she wrinkles her nose as she steps into the squad room. It's certainly a boy's club here-detectives in suits sprawling at beat-up metal desks, sipping coffee from styrofoam cups, all of them eyeing her with frank curiosity. One dark-haired detective in particular takes his time, running his eyes up her legs. She flushes with annoyance and glares. He gives her a slow, devastating grin, and she looks away.

'Dr. Olivet?' a bald man wearing suspenders strolls out of an office. 'I'm Don Cragen. You ready to start your career with the police?'

002\. Middles  
He takes up so much space when he sleeps, sprawling restlessly in the middle of her bed. He is so filled with energy and vitality in his waking life that surely it is not surprising it spills over at night. She has always been a light sleeper but sleeping with him was different, better. She casts herself into his arms and sleeps soundly for hours, his big hands resting warmly on her back, her cheek pressed against his chest so she can feel the steady beating of his heart. That steady rhythm is what soothes her, underscoring all her dreams.

003\. Endings  
She doesn't think he would react like… that. So coolly, coldly, nodding as if she meant nothing to him at all. He collects his things and leaves her apartment, leaves her, like he doesn't care. He doesn't even say he's sorry…

She knows him so well but she doesn't know how he could do that.

She lies paralyzed on the sofa, staring blankly at the television as endless reruns of thirtysomething play in the background. When the news comes on, he's there, he's punching a corrupt politician and she realizes that yes, maybe he did care.

But it's too late.

004\. Insides  
This is what she does, this is what she studied-delving around in people's minds to help them, to heal them. Sometimes their minds are organized, compartmentalized, laminated, and others are messy, their problems obscured by clutter and stress and emotions. His is full of defences; he fights her off every time she gets close to touching on a source of pain. She feels like a neurosurgeon operating, careful to extract only the damaged tissue-but those patients aren't awake and fighting her every moment. But he can't fight forever, and he lashes out, breaks down, and finally, finally she breaks through.

005\. Outsides  
He wraps his arms around her as she stands in the bathroom, pressing his cheek against hers. She looks at them in the mirror and she catches his eyes as he grins. God, he is handsome-dark hair, hazel eyes, strong features, and a grin that makes her weak at the knees. Her gaze shifts and she looks at herself-they are a study in contrasts; she is slim where he is muscular, her eyes grey and steady without his ever-present fire. His hand ghosts a caress on her waist and she shivers, watching as his eyes grow dark and he grins.


	2. Hours Days Weeks Months Years

006\. Hours  
Her life is measured by appointments; three in the morning, an hour for lunch, four in the afternoon-hour-long sessions that measure her life and the lives of others, time marching on regularly and consistently. But from the first moment he steps into her office-that same detective that undressed her with his eyes on her first day in the precinct-the hours pass by in seconds and she wants more than an hour at a time with him for reasons she refuses to articulate to herself. An hour at a time isn't enough; it never could be. She can't bear it.

007\. Days  
She meets him face-to-face ten days after… after their glorious mistake, running straight into him in the rabbit-warren corridors of Hogan Place. He grasps her elbows to keep her from falling and she feels a sudden surge of desire shoot through her.

'Better be careful. You could hurt yourself.'

She shrugs off his hands.

'Listen, Liz, it's been days. Are you just gonna ignore me?'

'I don't know what you want me to say.'

'C'mon, it was good-we were good. Doesn't have to be just one night.'

'I don't think it could survive the day,' she says, then walks away.

008\. Weeks  
'You're about ten weeks along,' her doctor says, studying the ultrasound machine. 'Congratulations.'

'Ten weeks-you're sure?' she asks urgently.

'Yes.'

Ten weeks ago her husband was out of town, halfway through a monthlong trip, and he was back in her bed for a night, his mouth trailing down her body and setting her on fire.

'I want you,' he'd growled, and she'd acquiesced, still powerless to resist him after all this time.

'Everything looks good-you and the baby are both healthy, Elizabeth.'

'Thank you,' she murmurs faintly, trying to come to grips with this secret, that night, and its consequences.

009\. Months  
Her heart nearly stops when she sees him on Fifth Avenue; she can't run away, can't move, as he approaches her.

'This is a surprise,' he says frankly, gaze fixed on her swollen belly. 'Didn't know you were expectin'. How far along are you?'

'Six months,' she admits, watching as he freezes in shock.

'Six-' he breathes, looking up into her eyes. In an instant he steps close to her, reaching out to lay a hand on her stomach. She gasps in surprise, gripping his wrist as he feels the baby kick.

'Liz-'

'I have to go.'

'But-'

'Goodbye, Mike.'

010\. Years  
It's been close to five years since he's been in her apartment but it feels like yesterday.

'If you're looking for the silver lining-you called me. Ten years ago you never would've done that-' -because ten years ago he'd been on Staten Island for a year and they hadn't spoken after he'd left, she finishes silently. He wouldn't have called her for anything and she wouldn't have answered. The fact that he's here now means he truly needs her.

They look at each other for a long moment, gazing at each other across a years-wide gap. What can she say?


	3. Red Orange Yellow Green Blue

011\. Red  
She's drinking a nice Bordeaux when he proposes to her and nearly tips it over in surprise.

'You know I love you-I'm in love with you,' he says, sliding the red Cartier box across the table to her. She opens it with trembling fingers and looks at the beautiful square-cut diamond.

Isn't this what she wanted? A husband and a family, a steady life with a man who loves her? But when she meets his calm blue gaze she sees instead the flashing hazel eyes of the man she loved so well.

She looks into her wine and says yes.

012\. Orange  
'I want an orange balloon!' her daughter insists stubbornly, so much like her father she can't believe her husband has never seen it.

He laughs and asks the man for an orange balloon instead. 'She's a proper little madam, isn't she,' he says, smiling at her. Her daughter takes the balloon eagerly and she kneels to tie it around her wrist, ducking her head so he can't see her consternation, looking into her daughter's grey eyes, seeing the joy there. She stands up and steps back to take her husband's hand, looking at Caroline. Her daughter grins at her balloon.

013\. Yellow  
She refuses to find out whether she's having a boy or a girl, so her husband paints the baby's room pale daffodil yellow, soothing and cheerful. She sits in the living room and knits baby blankets in the same shade, the careful work essential to keeping her mind off the Jenny Brandt case, that poor damaged little girl. She pauses in her work, resting a hand on her belly to pray that her baby-her child and his, even if she can't, won't tell him-has a better life, a happier one. How can she ever tell him, even if he's guessed?

014\. Green  
She's terrified, frankly-not only of the man through the glass, calmly admitting he murdered four people to a detective taking down his words, but terrified also of the detectives in the squad room, watching her, judging her every move. It's her first case and she takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself and focus. She can't make a mistake, can't mess up. The dark-haired detective she saw earlier comes up to stand next to her. She turns and looks at him, raising an eyebrow. 'Can I help you, Detective?'

'Good luck,' he says kindly. 'I'm sure it'll be okay.'

015\. Blue  
Apparently the DA doesn't have an equivalent to the blue wall, or if it does, it never, or no longer, applied to her. How dare Jack tell his ADA to dredge up her past relationship with Mike on the stand? How dare he! She was there for him after Claire's death, defended him to Adam Schiff, helped him with his grief-for what? They were never friends, but what they had-their relationship, however volatile, went deep. She always thought he was loyal… but true blue he was not.

She confronts him after she's dismissed. 'This isn't your finest moment.'

'Nor yours.'


	4. Purple Brown Black White Colorless

016\. Purple  
He cries when he catches glimpses of the bruises on her thighs-deep purple fingerprint marks that haven't faded even a week after. She's never seen him cry before, not even for Max, and it unnerves her.

'Jesus, Lizzie,' he whispers bleakly. 'What did he do to you?'

She looks away as he stands up from her bed, walking over to take her in his arms. She stands woodenly in his embrace.

'I'm tired,' she says.

'D'you-d'you want me to stay?' he asks tentatively.

She steps out of his embrace and looks at him blankly, shrugging as she crawls into bed.

017\. Brown  
When her daughter is seven they get a dog, a brown-and-white cocker spaniel she names Marjorie.

'Marjorie?' she laughs at the ridiculous and old-fashioned name she chose.

Her slow grin is just like his and every time she smiles her heart flips over.

'I like it. It's a pretty name and she is a pretty dog,' she states, sprawling on the floor with the puppy, tickling her belly. 'Also, Grandmother suggested it.'

She rolls her eyes in amused exasperation. 'Of course she did.'

'Don't you like the name, Mommy?'

'Of course, sweetie.'

She turns back to the puppy and giggles.

018\. Black  
'Your phone call woke our daughter up; she'll be there in a minute,' he snaps, annoyed, when he opens the door. 'Follow me.'

He walks down the hallway and he follows her husband, pausing for a moment at the half-open door. He can hear her voice singing softly and he moves silently to the door, peering inside the dark room. Her back is to him but he watches as she strokes her daughter's hair. It is so quiet and peaceful that he feels the black weight on his heart lift slightly for the first time since he mistakenly shot that cop.

019\. White  
It is not a big white wedding-she's never wanted one-but her childhood church is decked in out in flowers and her husband-to-be is waiting for her at the altar. She walks down the long aisle and it seems endless. She clutches at her bouquet with white-knuckled hands, trying to silence the voice in her head screaming that this is not right, he is not the right man, she is supposed to be with Mike.

She stumbles slightly on the uneven brick floor, catching herself before she falls. If she could only do that now, but it's late, it's too late.

020\. Colorless  
She half-stumbles out of Merritt's office, clutching her purse and tape recorder like a lifeline. The world seems bleached, removed, far away, and she hails a cab to take her to the hospital.

'I've been raped,' she says, and there is a sudden rush of movement. She's disrobed, examined, interrogated.

'I need to make a phone call,' she says, her voice shaking at last, and she is handed a phone.

'Mike, I'm at the hospital. Lenox Hill. Please come. Please come now.'

She drops the phone with nerveless, numb fingers, then turns her empty gaze to the wall.

 _Oh God._


	5. Friends Enemies Lovers Family Strangers

021\. Friends  
The first time she laughs at one of his jokes she stops herself abruptly and looks at him, looks at herself, looks at what's between them.

Their relationship began with a mandated therapy session, continued when they worked together, and now here they are. God, she doesn't even know if she likes him.

And the fact that she laughs-well, It's not much, it's a funny joke, and Phil laughs too-but for the first time she is relaxed enough to…

She flushes when she catches his eye, and he grins, and for a moment the comradery between them overrides everything else.

022\. Enemies  
They've never gotten along, not even when they knew each other all those years ago. He knows that he resents his presence but he really doesn't give a shit. He needs her right now, needs her help after shooting that cop, and if he has to sit in silence in her study with him watching until she gets here then he's gonna suffer through it.

Her husband knows their history, but he doesn't know if he knows about that one night eight years ago… their last shot. He doubts it.

He doesn't know if Ben knows Liz's daughter isn't his.

023\. Lovers  
When was the last time she was with him? Three years ago? An entire lifetime has passed but here he is outside her apartment door.

'It's all gone to hell, Lizzie. I need you.'

She pushes past him into her apartment.

'I can't help you the way you want, need. I'm married now.'

'I know. So where's Ben?'

'Away.'

'When's he coming back?'

'Two weeks.'

'Lizzie-'

She looks at him at last. He closes the door, steps closer, rests his hand on her cheek. She closes her eyes and takes a deep shuddering breath.

'I'm still in love with you.'

024\. Family  
When her husband goes away on business trips her daughter sleeps with her in her bed, snuggled close as they read books and have cookies and hot cocoa. She sleeps cradled in her arms and she feels the beat of her heart, as steady as her father's.

She also has his smile and the quirk of his eyebrows and his stubborn temper and the flash of fire in her grey eyes. Her daughter has her features and her coloring and she is so essentially a small version of herself that her husband has never noticed these other traits, not ever.

025\. Strangers  
She and her mother always went to Melon's for burgers after her first day of school every semester. After her daughter's first day of kindergarten, they sit in the front corner and her daughter sips a Coca-Cola when he walks in the door.

For a moment she forgets everything and smiles at him until her daughter asks, 'who's that, Mommy?'

He approaches them shyly, leaning on the railing.

'Hi, Liz.' He looks at their daughter. 'Hi, there. I'm Mike.'

'Hello,' she says sweetly. 'I'm Caroline. D'you want to sit with us?'

They grin at each other and he sits down.


	6. Teammates Parents Children Birth Death

026\. Teammates  
Psychology has always seemed to be such a singular profession for her, involving the psychologist and the patient, no more and no less. An early case at the precinct proves her wrong when they take her to lunch to discuss her findings.

'We could try walking through that day,' she suggests, 'see if any memories come back.'

'Good idea, Doc,' he replies, glancing at Phil. 'How about tomorrow?'

'Oh, I meant-' she begins, then stops. It is their investigation after all. 'Yes, all right, tomorrow.'

'Great. How about we meet you at the precinct at two, then start from there?'

027\. Parents  
'Look how beautiful she is,' her mother coos, cradling the baby in her arms. 'She's perfect.'

She raises an eyebrow as she looks at her mother, doting over Mike's daughter in a way she never did with her child.

'What a precious little girl,' her father murmurs in agreement.

Relinquished of her daughter for a moment, she closes her eyes, leaning back against the sofa. Her husband squeezes her shoulder; she looks up at him and smiles wearily.

'Are you all right, Elizabeth?' her mother asks.

'I'm sure she's just tired,' Ben says.

'Yes,' she agrees. 'Just a bit tired.'

028\. Children  
Caroline runs through the splash pad shrieking, Ben's grandson toddling after her on still-unsteady legs. She watches as they jump in the puddles, screaming their delight as the cold water hits their overheated skin. They look so different from each other-her daughter slim and brunette, his grandson sturdy and blond like her husband. Her daughter runs over to her, flinging her wet arms around her neck, filled with the irrepressible energy that is her father's hallmark.

'Mommy, I want ice cream!'

'You haven't had lunch yet.'

Her daughter quirks an eyebrow. 'Ice cream could be lunch.'

She can't resist her anything.

029\. Birth  
It's late when he walks down the empty corridor to her room. She is asleep, her hand resting on the baby's stomach as she sleeps in her crib. He stands in the doorway and watches until she stirs, opening her eyes.

'Visiting hours are over,' she says, voice unsteady.

'Perks of being a cop.' He steps closer, standing at the end of her bed. 'You okay?'

'Exhausted.' A pause. 'Exhilarated.'

He bends over the crib. 'She's beautiful.'

'Yes. D'you want to hold her?'

He bends down and cradles her in his large hands, smiling at her.

'What's her name?'

'Caroline.'

030\. Death  
'You'll be counseling Detective Mike Logan,' Cragen says. 'As you've no doubt heard, his partner, Max Greevey, was murdered four days ago. Departmental procedure requires us to send him to counseling until he comes to a sense of closure.' He pauses and sighs. 'Besides, I think that he needs some help dealing with this event.'

'Most people do. It was a traumatic event, and it certainly would highlight the dangerous nature of his job.'

'Yeah. So, should I have him call you for an appointment?'

'Yes,' she says, rising from her seat. 'I'll fit him in this week.'

'Thanks, Doc.'


	7. Sunrise Sunset Too Much Not Enough

031\. Sunrise  
She sits curled up on her sofa, twisting her wedding and engagement rings. The sun is just starting to rise, weak rays of sunshine filtering through the buildings on Park Avenue, finally ending the long night.

He's still sleeping in her bed as though he'd never left her those years ago. He was exhausted, emotional, desperate for her and she couldn't help but respond in an attempt to soothe his anguish. She still responded to him with the same fire she thought long extinguished by the intervening years and the pain he'd caused.

'Lizzie?'

She turns and looks at him.

032\. Sunset  
Her new husband-husband, she thinks in astonishment-is in their room unpacking as she leans against the railing of their balcony, staring at the sunset.

'Red sky at night, sailor's delight,' he quips, coming up behind her to wrap his arms around his waist. 'I'm glad we'll have good weather tomorrow.'

She is, too-good weather means activities, less time to think about what could have been-another man, another life… she turns to face him.

'I'm glad, too. It will be nice to explore.'

'As long as I'm with you I'm happy.'

Her heart clenches and she forces a smile, kissing him.

033\. Too Much & 034\. Not Enough  
'I just couldn't take it, what it was doin' to you-tearin' you up, breakin' your heart… it hurt to look at you, Lizzie. It hurt to watch you and know that I didn't do enough to help you, to know that I couldn't help you now. It was too much…'

'So you sought out someone else?' she snaps. 'It's so nice to know you care, Mike.'

'Of course I care! How can you doubt that? What happened was a mistake. I needed to talk and we were drinkin' and one thing led to another… I never meant to hurt you. I never meant for this to happen.'

'You can't think this is enough.'

'I dunno what else to do.'

She runs a hand over her eyes. 'I want you to go.'

'We need to talk about this, work it out.'

'There's nothing to discuss. It's over.'

'You can't mean that,' he scoffs.

She looks up at him, fighting back tears. 'I mean it.'

He looks at her, jaw set and shoulders tense. 'Fine. I'll get my things.'

She watches in shock as he comes back from her bedroom with an armful of clothes.

'Chuck the rest. Key's on the dresser.'

035\. Sixth Sense  
He knew it to a second when she stopped thinking of him as her patient, her colleague. The shift in their conversation, the way she leaned forward to talk to him, tilted her head and smiled… he knew she wanted him. Well, he wanted her too, desperately, had wanted her from that first moment he saw her in the precinct over a year ago, wrinkling her nose as she stood there looking around the squad room. But he'd forgotten her again until Max was shot and he showed up in her office, staring at her slender legs, listening to her.


	8. Smell Sound Touch Taste Sight

036\. Smell  
She doesn't throw away his remaining things like he told her to. She finds a few folded t-shirts, a half-used bottle of cologne, his toothbrush, in the subsequent days. She takes to carrying one of the shirts to bed, holding it close and inhaling his fading scent from the worn cotton.

It is utterly ridiculous. She feels hollow, bereft, lost without his formidable presence, huddled up in the middle of her bed alone, without him.

He'd slept with someone else but he was hurting, she was hurting, and he didn't know what to do… well, he shouldn't have done that.

037\. Sound  
She wakes in the night to hear him crying, sobs racking his body as he sleeps.

'Mike,' she whispers, putting out a hand to touch his shoulder. The sobs slowly abate as he wakes, then turns to her.

'Bad dream?'

'Yeah,' he muttered, rubbing his hand across his eyes.

'Do you want to talk about it?'

'It was about Max. Same one I've been havin'.' He closes his eyes. 'I can still hear the gunshot.'

She reaches out for him, taking him into her arms. 'What can I do?'

'Just stay, please,' he says, pressing his lips to her forehead.

038\. Touch  
He calls her office and insists on her last appointment after they see each other on the street. When he arrives, she dismisses her receptionist for the day and brings him inside.

He paces nervously. She sits in her accustomed chair, one hand on her belly.

'It's mine, isn't it? Does Ben know?'

'Yes; no. He doesn't know, can't know.'

He meets her eyes. 'So-that's it? I'm not in the picture?'

'How could you be?' she asks sadly.

He kneels at her side, rests his hands on her stomach.

'But I want to be.'

She rests her hand on his.

039\. Taste  
She bites the inside of her cheek so hard she draws blood, the coppery tang filling her mouth like she's bitten down hard on a coin. He's touching her, drawing this out, his exclamations of lust so disgusting that she wants to vomit. She tries to focus on the blood in her mouth instead of his bruising grip on her thighs, his hands, his-

-she can't move, can barely breathe, doesn't want to look at him but she has to, she has to watch so she can testify, so this nightmare has an end, so he can't hurt anyone else-

040\. Sight  
He's long entertained the idea of pursuing her romantically, stopped only by the fact they are colleagues. When she admits, on the stand, that she called Mike Logan because she had a "personal relationship" with him, pieces fall into place-his anger at their initial refusal to prosecute, his presence throughout the trial, the way he watches her-they're lucky Danielle Melnick doesn't read into it, her only slip during the trial.

He sees them after in the hallway. She's leaning against the wall, head drooping in sorrow as he stands in front of her, a comforting hand resting on her waist.


	9. Shapes Triangle Square Circle Moon

041\. Shapes  
Ben lies on the floor with her daughter, handing her colorful wooden blocks to press through the holes in her toy.

'She's so smart, Elizabeth,' he says in awe. 'Look at her! Surely she's a genius, she's only fifteen months and already recognizing shapes and colors!'

'I know-I can't believe how fast she's growing up.' She smiles at them indulgently.

'How could we fail to have a genius for a daughter when her mother is so brilliant?'

'Well, I think that she certainly has some of her father's intelligence as well,' she says, reaching out to hold her husband's hand.

042\. Triangle  
'She's still not feeling well but she's finally asleep,' she says, walking into the study, stopping abruptly when she sees the men.

'Mike got here a few minutes ago. I let him in,' her husband says coldly, glaring at him.

'Thank you,' she says, resting a hand on his shoulder.

'I'm going to check on our daughter, then I'll see you in bed,' he says, standing up and kissing her possessively.

'Thank you,' she says again.

She looks at Mike, sprawled in an armchair, his eyes watching her. She doesn't look away until she hears the door close behind Ben.

043\. Square  
'I've wanted to ask you for dinner for a long time,' he admits, taking a sip of wine.

'Why didn't you ask before?'

'We worked together. It wouldn't have been proper. And… you were seeing someone else.'

She flushes, looking away. 'We haven't been together for some time now.'

'Yes, I'd heard.' He pauses and looks at her. 'I figured now's my chance.'

She looks back at him. 'I'm flattered that you've waited so long to ask me on a date.'

'I'm honored that you said yes. It means a lot to me, Elizabeth, that you'll give me a chance.'

044\. Circle  
'It's just like our first night together, isn't it? All those years ago…'

'Yes. We've come full circle. It was one night then, one night now. This was a mistake.'

'No. No, it wasn't a mistake. How can we leave this at just one night, Lizzie? I can't live without you. Last night… it could be a new beginning. We could try again. We could start over.'

She twists her rings on her finger. 'No, we can't. I'm married now. I love Ben.'

'But you're in love with me… aren't you?'

'That doesn't matter.'

'Of course it does.'

'It can't.'

045\. Moon  
'I see the moon and the moon sees me,' she sings softly, rocking her daughter to sleep. She still can't believe she's holding her own darling daughter. She's two months old and she's never felt like this before. Her child…! Her own, beloved daughter. Her daughter and Mike's.

'...and the moon sees the one that I can't see,' she continues, voice faltering as she thinks of him. God, when he saw her for the first time in the hospital… she didn't think he'd come. She didn't think he'd want anything to do with them. She misjudged him. He wanted them.


	10. Star Heart Diamond Club Spade

046\. Star  
'They're never as clear as this in the city,' he murmurs, lying back on the deck of her father's boat to look up at the night sky.

'No, they're never as clear anywhere else,' she says, moving closer to him, pulling his arm around her in an embrace. 'Isn't it beautiful?'

'It's certainly something.'

She props herself up on her elbow, looks down at him, runs a hand down his chest.

'What is it?' he asks softly.

She pauses, meeting his eyes. 'Nothing,' she says at last. 'I'm just-I'm really glad you're here.'

He pulls her down for a kiss.

047\. Heart  
It astounds her that her heart, belonging so firmly to a man who no longer belonged to her, was fickle enough to love someone else, someone nothing like him. He was calm, quiet, gentle-truly a gentleman, deeply in love with her.

He's a good writer-he's an author now, well-respected, penning legal thrillers under a pseudonym, loudly praised for their accuracy-and travels a lot for book tours. When they are apart, he pens her eloquent and lengthy love letters.

…could never do without you, my dearest; you have been a voice of reason, a bastion of peace in this horrid world…

048\. Diamond  
Her engagement ring is more tasteful and certainly larger than anything she'd hoped for in those brief months when she thought she might spend the rest of her life with Mike. It's disproportionately heavy, weighing down her hand when she goes to reach for a piece of paper, something from the fridge. Catching sight of the diamond from the corner of her eye, it hardly feels real; it belongs to someone else. It belongs to a woman named Elizabeth, who is in private practice and teaches at Barnard, a woman happy to settle down with a man who adores her.

049\. Club  
It's hard to confide in someone drinking a club soda when you're intent on getting stinking drunk, desperate to forget. The imbalance gives more weight to confessions.

'So what's eating you, Mikey?' Lennie asks.

'Who said something's wrong?' he snaps.

'You don't normally drink like this-drinking to forget,' he comments. 'Hey, I know what it looks like.'

He shrugs angrily, swigging back his whiskey.

'Do you want to talk about it?'

'What d'you want me to say? That I'm in love with her, that she shouldn't do this? How could she do it? How could she say yes to him?'

050\. Spade  
He sprawls on her sofa reading The Maltese Falcon, the beer in his hand forgotten as he avidly turns the pages. She watches him surreptitiously over the pages of her own novel, noting his utter absorption. She suppresses a laugh as he jumps slightly at an apparent denouement, spilling some of his beer, but he hears her and tears his eyes away from the book to grin.

'You look so absorbed,' she says, amused.

'Well, when I was a kid Sam Spade is the guy I wanted to be,' he remarks. 'Rough-and-tumble, smart, good at his job-everything I could be.'


End file.
